With Krista Harper, I co-founded the University of Massachusetts’ Community Energy Lab—a collaboration across anthropologists, STSers, community organizers, engineers, and other aligned researchers. Together, we are working to understand barriers and opportunities to renewable energy transitions that advance the desires of low-to-moderate income people with lived experiences of environmental injustice in Western Massachusetts.
Active topics of research include insulation and electrification without displacement, tenants’ rights organizing, indoor air quality monitoring, and community-scale demand flexibility.
This work connects community research questions to participatory action methods. It is made possible by federal research funding, including the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science to Achieve Results Program (#RD840562, Community-engaged co-design of residential electrification for a just and sustainable energy transition). Thank you to the US public and federal workforce for their support.